Foldable drag harrow draw bar



H. R. MALMGREN 2,778,182

FOLDABLE DRAG HARROW DRAW BAR Jan. 22, 1957 Filed Feb. 4, 1955 Fig.7

INVENTOR HARVEY R MALMGREN MMJMJ MM PATENT ATTORNEYS United States Patent FOLDABLE DRAG HARROW DRAW BAR Harvey R. Malmgren, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, as-

signor to Malmgren Implement Mfg. Co., St. Boniface, Manitoba, Canada Application February 4, 1955, Serial No. 486,240

7 Claims. (Cl. 55-89) My invention relates to new and useful improvements in drag harrow drawbars, the principal object and essence of my invention being to provide a drag harrow drawbar of the character herewithin described which is capable of being folded rearwardly for towing purposes and yet which can be extended to its full width for operating purposes and still maintain its rigidity of action.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the character herewithin described which permits the front wheel assembly to be steered when in the towing position and the rear wheel assembly to be fixed rigidly and, alternatively, for all three wheel assemblies to be freely pivotable when in the fully extended position.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device of the character herewithin described which, when in the folded or towing position, takes up the minimum of space transversely, thus enabling same to be towed on the highway, as well as through farm gates and the like.

Yet another object of my invention in conjunction with the foregoing objects, is to provide a device of the character herewithin described which permits the conventional drag harrow sections to be stacked on top of the device for transporting purposes.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the character herewithin described which is readily changed from the towing to the extended position and vice versa.

Still another object of my device is to provide a harrow drawbar of the character herewithin described which is extremely simple in construction, economical in manufacture and otherwise well suited to the purpose for which it is designed.

With the foregoing objects in view, and such other objects and advantages as will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates as this specification proceeds, my invention consists essentially in the arrangement and construction of parts all as hereinafter more particularly described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view in part of my device in the extended position.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of my device in the folded or towing position.

Figure 3 is an enlarged top plan view of the center section of my device.

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentaryside elevation of one of the rear wheel assemblies.

Figure 5 is a front view of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary partially sectioned view showing the attachment of the extension draw bar with the main draw bar.

Figure 7 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view showing the attachment of the extension draw bar with the castoring fork brackets.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.

With the relatively wide-span drag harrows normally used in agriculture at this time, it is becoming extremely 2,778,182 Patented Jan. 22, 1957 ICC difficult to transport same from place to place and, although several harrows have been designed in which the ends fold over onto the center portion, nevertheless, this still leaves a considerable width of implement to be moved.

Furthermore, some designs of folding harrow drawbars are extremely complicated in structure, and do not always retain the necessary rigidity when in the extended or operating position.

I have overcome these disadvantages by providing an extremely simple folding harrow drawbar capable of being changed from one position to the other without the use of tools and with a minimum of effort.

Proceeding now to describe my invention in detail, it will be seen upon reference to the accompanying drawings that I have provided a relatively short main draw bar 1 preferably of tubular section, and including a substantially horizontal portion 2 and a downturned end portion 3 which is situated substantially at right angles to the portion 2. A pair of drag harrow arms 4 and 5, also of tubular section, are pivotally secured to the downturned end 3 of the main draw bar and, in this connection, it should be observed that each draw bar section is provided with a U-shaped clevis 6, the flanges 7 of which are horizontal and are apertured to fit over the portion 3 of the main draw bar, conventional pin means (not illustrated) passing through the portion 3 after the clevises are in position to prevent same from becoming disengaged therefrom. It will be observed from Figure 3 that the clevises of each draw bar 4 and 5 overlap one another so that the draw bars are capable of horizontal pivoting movement around the portion 3 of the main draw bar. The conventional drag harrow attachment chains and clips 8 are situated along the length of the drag harrow drawbar arms, to which conventional harrow sections 9 may be attached in the usual manner.

It should also be noted that the drag harrow drawbar arm specifically designated 5 is capable of vertical hingeing movement due to the provision of a further clevis 10 at right angles to the clevis 6, to which the inner end 11 of this particular drag harrow drawbar arm is pivotally connected, underneath the pin 12, the purpose of which will hereinafter become apparent.

A bracing bar 12' is provided for each drag harrow drawbar arm and consists of a tubular member having a downturned end 13 at the rear end thereof. These downturned ends pass freely through a clevis 14 secured as by welding or the like adjacent the outer ends 15 of the drag harrow drawbar arm, as clearly shown in Figure 2.

When in the folded or towing position shown in Figure 2, the inner ends 16 of the bracing bars are adapted to be secured by pins 17 between a pair of brackets 18 welded transversely to the main draw bar 1. Also each of these bracing bars carries a castoring wheel 19 mounted between forks 20, which in turn are pivotally secured to a bracket 21 welded to the bracing arms substantially towards the rear ends 22 thereof, it being appreciated that vertical stub axle 23 is secured to the upper end of the forks and is swinging to rotate within brackets 21. However, when in the towing position shown in Figure 2, it is not desirable that these rear wheel assemblies be capable of castoring action, consequently, a cross-bar 24 is engageable upon pins 25 extending from the side of the fork 20 and being held in position by means of pins 26, so that these wheels are locked in position under these circumstances.

A further castoring wheel 27 is mounted within fork 28 which in turn is freely pivoted to the forward end 29 of the main draw bar 1, said fork also having brackets 30 extending forwardly therefrom, within which is detachably secured an extension drawbar 31 held in place by means of pin 32, and capable of vertical hinging movement within said brackets. When in the towing position, as in Figure 2, this extension drawbar may be attached to the towing means in the conventional manner, thus permitting the implement to be drawn behind the vehicle and to follow the track of same due to the steering effect of the wheel 27. The vertical hinging of the extension drawbar to the front wheel assembly permitting flexibility between the towing means and the drawbar when in towing position, thus alleviating any strain in the structure due to unevenness of the ground surface.

However, when the device is in the extended position shown in Figure I, this extension drawbar 31 is disconnected from the brackets 30 and socketed within the forward end 29 of the main draw bar 1, being held in position by means of a pin passing through aperture 33. thus making the extension drawbar 31 a rigid extension of the main drawbar 1. A pair of brackets 34 are welded above and below the extension draw bar adjacent the front end 35 thereof to which the forward ends 16 of the bracing bars 12 may be secured by means of pins in the conventional manner, it being understood that cross bar 24 is removed for this purpose.

In operation, the device is shown in the towing position in Figure 2, but when it is desired to extend the harrow for use, the extension drawbar 31 is withdrawn from the brackets 30 and placed within the front end 29 of the main drawbar, as hereinbefore described, whereupon the cross bar 24 is removed and the front ends 16 of the bracing arms are disconnected from the brackets 18.

This permits the drag harrow drawbar arms 4 and 5 to be swung horizontally in the direction of arrows 34' until they are substantially at right angles to the main draw bar 1, at which time the bracing arms 12 may be extended diagonally forward to be pin connected to the brackets 34, thus taking up the position shown in Figure 1. Under these circumstances, the rear castoring wheels 19 support the outer ends of the drag harrow drawbar arms 4 and 5 and a rigid structure results, to which the harrow section 9 may be attached.

Finally, due to the extreme width of the device when in the extended position, it is necessary to provide a certain flexibility of movement, consequently, the hinging of one arm, as shown at 10, 11 and 12, is provided. This permits the right hand portion, with respect to Figure l, to ride over any irregularities in the ground, the left hand sections having sufiicient free movement in the hitch to permit same to have the same flexibility.

Also, it should be noted that when in the folded position shown in Figure 2, the drag harrow sections 9 may conveniently be stacked upon the top of the device for transporting purposes.

Since various modifications can be made in my invention as hereinabove described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made within the spirit and scope of the claims without departing from such spirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. A foldable drag harrow drawbar comprising in combination a relatively short main drawbar, a castoring wheel and fork assembly pivotally secured to the forward end of said main drawbar, a pair of drag harrow drawbar arms pivotally secured by the inner ends thereof to the rear end of said main drawbar, a bracing bar for each of said drag harrow arms, each of said bracing bars being pivotally secured by the rear ends thereof to a point adjacent the outer ends of each of said drag harrow drawbar arms, the forward ends of said bracing arms, when said harrow drawbar is in the folded position, adapted to be detachably secured to said main draw bar, and an extension draw bar detachably secured to said castoring wheel and fork assembly when said harrow drawbar is in the folded position, and adapted to be rigidly secured to the front end of said main drawbar, as an extension thereof, when said harrow drawbar is in the extended position, the said forward ends of said bracing arms adapted to be secured adjacent the forward end of said extension draw bar when said harrow drawbar is in the extended position.

2. A foldable drag harrow drawbar comprising in combination a relatively short main drawbar, a castoring Wheel and fork assembly pivotally secured to the forward end of said main draw bar, a pair of drag harrow drawbar arms pivotally secured by the inner ends thereof to the rear end of said main drawbar, a bracing bar for each of said drag harrow drawbar arms, each of said bracing bars being pivotally secured by the rear ends thereof to a point adjacent the outer ends of each of said drag harrow drawbar arms, the forward ends of said bracing arms, when said harrow drawbar is in the folded position, adapted to be detachably secured to said main draw bar, and an extension draw bar detachably secured to said castoring wheel and fork assembly when said harrow drawbar is in the folded position, and adapted to be rigidly secured to the front end of said main drawbar, as an extension thereof, when said harrow drawbar is in the extended position, the said forward ends of said bracing arms adapted to be secured adjacent the forward end of said extension drawbar when said harrow drawbar is in the extended position, and a further castoring wheel and fork assembly pivotally secured adjacent the rear ends of each of said bracing arms, and means to detach ably secure said pivotal connections of said last-mentioned castoring wheel and fork assemblies when said drag harrow drawbar is in the folded position.

3. The device according to claim 2 in which said means includes a bar adapted to extend between said last-mentioned castoring wheel and fork assemblies and means for detachably securing said bar to said assemblies c0- operating between the ends of said bar and said last mentioned castoring wheel and fork assemblies.

4. The device according to claim 1 in which one of said drag harrow drawbar arms is adapted to hinge vertically adjacent the inner end thereof, said one arm including a clevis adjacent the inner end thereof, said one arm being pivotally connected to said clevis for vertical hinging therewithin.

5. The device according to claim 1 in which said main drawbar consists of a substantially horizontal portion and a downturned rear vertical portion, said drag harrow drawbar arms including clevis ends adapted to engage said downturned rear vertical portion, thereby permitting said drag harrow drawbar arms to pivot in a horizontal plane between the folded and extended positions.

6. The device according to claim 2 in which said main draw bar consists of a substantially horizontal portion and a downturned rear vertical portion, said drag harrow draw bar arms including clevis ends adapted to engage said downturned rear vertical portion, thereby permitting said drag harrow draw bar arms to pivot in a horizontal plane between the folded and extended positions.

7. The device according to claim 6 which includes a detachable bar adapted to stand said last mentioned castoring wheel and fork assemblies, and means for detachably securing said bar to said assemblies cooperating between the ends of said bar and said last mentioned castoring wheel and fork assemblies.

No references cited. 

